1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to apparatus for dispensing flowable materials, and more particularly to such apparatus which is suitable for automated operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
With increasing emphasis on inventory reduction and innovative manufacturing management techniques, such as "just in time," and other techniques, custom blending of recipes is becoming increasingly important in a variety of different industries. For example, food flavorings, cosmetics, paints and inks are being custom blended to produce formulations in made-to-order quantities on demand.
There is an increasing emphasis today on compact automated dispensing apparatus. Problems are encountered, however, when attempts are made to compact high throughput automated dispensing equipment used in a high volume production environment. Consideration must be given not only to the larger size of the dispense valves required, but also to the routing of conduits which are significantly increased in cross-sectional size so as to accommodate the higher throughput rates of the system. These and other related factors make it difficult to provide dispense assemblies having the capability of dispensing a plurality of formulation ingredients. For example, paint coatings require a plurality of different color tinting materials. Tinting systems having as many as 8 to 16 different colors are commonly employed in the paint industry. Dispense equipment for such applications meters the requisite amount of different tint materials, depositing them into a common container, which usually contains a base paint mixture. Thus, a plurality of different dispense valves, even though of large throughput capacity, must be closely positioned so as to accommodate a standard size container.